Jacquie Burke, Executive Director Children and Education for Hackney

Sandra Husbands (Director of Public Health, Hackney) interviews Jacquie Burke, Executive Director for Children & Education at Hackney Council. The conversation covers how anti-racism work has been embedded across children's social care, education, and commissioning in Hackney, with lessons for public health and the wider London system.

Key topics discussed:

• Motivation & approach: Jacquie arrived at Hackney shortly after the murder of George Floyd. She and her social care operations director felt existing Black Lives Matter work needed to translate into tangible changes for children and families receiving services. She co-leads race equity work across London for the Association of Directors of Children's Services.
• Strategic vs. operational anti-racism: Jacquie frames anti-racism as both a moral imperative and a business-critical one — neglecting underserved communities leads to higher costs and worse outcomes downstream. She challenges the "we've always done it this way" mindset.
• The STAR practice model: Hackney developed a practice model for children's social care that is Systemic, Trauma-informed, and Anti-Racist. Ofsted recognized STAR running through the organization during a recent inspection.
• Anti-racist commissioning: Hackney is working to make procurement accessible to smaller, local Black and global majority organizations — moving from short-term grants to 3–5 year contracts to give them firmer footing.
• Data, categories, and interpretation: Sandra and Jacquie discuss how ONS racial categories are reductive, rooted in colonial structures, and often don't reflect how people identify themselves. They highlight the problem of always comparing outcomes to the white group as an implicit norm, and the need to co-produce data interpretation with affected communities.
• Education & exclusions: Hackney's high permanent exclusion rate and the Child Q incident were catalysts for change. The council reconfigured its exclusion service into an inclusion-focused, multi-agency team that intervenes early with at-risk children — achieving an estimated 20% reduction in permanent exclusions. Exclusion is flagged as a major safeguarding issue, linked to increased risk of criminality and harm.
• Hair policing: They discuss the history of schools policing Black children's hair (afros, locs) under "disruption" pretexts, and the ongoing need for vigilance even after initial progress.
• Emotional toll on staff: Jacquie's key takeaway is the emotional exhaustion this work places on Black and global majority staff, who are often asked to share trauma stories to convince white colleagues. She stresses that the data already exists — the burden of proof shouldn't fall on those most affected.
• Looking ahead: Both see strong potential for ADCS and ADPH London to collaborate, particularly around mental health pathways for Black and global majority children and understanding the cumulative impact of systemic racism on wellbeing.